John Holer

Graham on March 18th, 2013

From Niagara This Week: It was far from quiet at City Hall on Tuesday as demonstrators protested outside council chambers for the second consecutive council meeting. As city councillors dealt with motions, zoning changes and other regular council business inside, demonstrators from Marineland Animal Defense — a self-described campaign of concerned citizens determined to end [...]

Continue reading about Marineland fight comes to City Hall

The Toronto Star has an interesting article where they share details of emails that Mayor Jim Diodati and his assistant sent back and forth and how they tried to craft their message about the Marineland crisis. It’s a case study in political spinning — the good and the bad. Last August, Niagara Falls, Ont., Mayor [...]

Continue reading about Marineland: Spinning the crisis with Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati

Graham on January 15th, 2013

From Sun News: Marineland has filed its second lawsuit in less than a month. This time the marine-animal theme park is taking aim at Marineland Animal Defense founder Dylan Powell. The statement of claim was filed at the St. Catharines courthouse Friday afternoon. It asks for a permanent restraint from Powell and his company from [...]

Continue reading about Marineland launches another suit

From the Toronto Star: Marineland owner John Holer is trying to acquire another killer whale for his tourist park, according to the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Association director Bill Peters told the Star he believes Marineland had a another killer whale lined up to join lone Kiska, but it fell through. Now “they [...]

Continue reading about Marineland owner John Holer trying to acquire another killer whale

Graham on October 29th, 2012

From 610 CKTB: The season may be over but the pressure remains on Marineland. On November 8th animal rights activists plan to march from the clinic of the park’s chief vet, June Mergl, to owner John Holer’s house. The candle light march is being called “Follow the Money” Marineland March.

Continue reading about November march planned to keep spotlight on Marineland

From the Toronto Star: Kiska, the killer whale, swims alone in her pool at Marineland, often followed by a trail of her own blood. Her tail has been bleeding off and on since July but has been getting progressively worse, according to Christine Santos, who has been one of Kiska’s primary trainers. She described the [...]

Continue reading about Marineland: Killer whale bleeding for months, trainer says

Graham on August 16th, 2012

From the Niagara Falls Review: …In a story published in a Toronto newspaper Wednesday, Demers said the poor conditions and a lack of action by park owner John Holer is what made him quit – and subsequently break a non-disclosure agreement by going public. The public reaction to the report has been significant, with Marineland [...]

Continue reading about Mayor defends Marineland amid allegations

Graham on August 16th, 2012

From the Niagara Falls Review: Leaving Marineland broke Phil Demers’ heart. But he had to do it. The 34-year-old animal trainer left Marineland after 12 years, and has gone public with allegations of deplorable water conditions and mistreatment of animals by his former employer. Demers said he made the decision to leave in May and [...]

Continue reading about Former trainer blasts Marineland conditions

Graham on October 4th, 2011

From the Toronto Star: One spring day in 1963, John Holer, the owner of Marineland, found himself on a Lake Ontario beach in a struggle with a 100-pound sea lion. Jeff, a sea lion that had escaped from Holer’s animal park in Niagara Falls three days earlier, sunk its teeth into Holer’s bicep as it [...]

Continue reading about The man behind Marineland: 50 years of controversy

Someone with a Blogger blog has posted about some early memories of Marineland (including a couple of pictures): …in my opinion John Holer has made two horrendous mistakes in building his empire and getting rich. Above is the Marineland stadium in the late 70′s when it was known as the Wade Burck Stadium. Below is [...]

Continue reading about The Circus “NO SPIN ZONE”: Vintage Marineland and Game Farm